Gubernatorial Candidate Moore Capito: Opportunities Ahead for West Virginia
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WHEELING -- The U.S. needs reliable energy sources and an abundant food supply to be self-reliant, and West Virginia has both, according to Delegate Moore Capito.
He sees opportunities for the state to capitalize on its wealth of assets in the coming years, and he said it only needs someone to lead it forward to the next level.
Capito, currently Judiciary Committee chairman in the West Virginia House of Delegates, is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2024. On Tuesday, he discussed matters facing the state during a stop in Wheeling.
"I think energy independence is a national security issue. I think food supply and food security is a national issue," Capito said. "And when you look at our flag in West Virginia there are two individuals -- you have a miner and a farmer.
"I look at that and see what better time is there for West Virginia to shine, and what better time to be a leader and take on two of the biggest national security issues that we have."
West Virginia has the opportunity to establish itself in the world because of its resources, he added.
"We have the energy assets in West Virginia to be able to attack what I see as one of the biggest national security issues, and one of the biggest issues in the country right now - and that is energy independence," Capito said.
"We sit on top of a bountiful fossil fuel region unlike anywhere else given the size. When you look at it from an energy standpoint, what an opportunity West Virginia has to lead this nation back into energy independence."
Capito, 40, of Kanawha County, holds a law degree from Washington and Lee University. He also is the son of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
Capito remembers one piece of political advice he received from his mother is, "You have to earn it."
Capito describes himself as a "get-it-done conservative."
He was elected to the House of Delegates in 2016. In 2020, he was part of a team that set out to get a "super-majority" of Republicans in the chamber.
"We achieved that (in 2022), but we have to be able to live with the results," Capito said. "For the past three years, we've delivered the most conservative agenda in the history of West Virginia. As judiciary committee chairman, I sat in the chair and delivered it myself and I defended those initiatives on the floor each time when they succeeded.
"(As governor) we have to have somebody who is effective, that knows how to work with people from all over West Virginia and different walks of life and build consensus. At the end of the day, we're not going anywhere if we're not moving positive policy forward. I've shown time and time again I can do that, and how it works."
Capito said he has "skin in the game" when it comes to serving West Virginia as he is the father of two young children ages 8 and 5.
"So it's important to me," he explained. "A lot of the folks in my generation have left the state. But some of us have stayed. So I have a deep commitment to the state and my generation to lead a group at a time when we can bring so many of them home."